As the year draws to a close, it is the opportune time to reflect on the year gone by, and to be thankful for everything that God has blessed us with. Many will participate in the gift buying frenzy that hits shopping centres everywhere, but there is a gift one can give that cannot be bought at a store.

Bonifacio Paulo thought he was following the call of God to become a priest, but a chance meeting took him in a different direction towards Bible translation, as God showed him how life-changing it is to hear the Word of God in your own heart language.

It was a beautiful, sunny day on Sunday, 20 November 2016, as cyclists hit the road for the 20th edition of the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge. Wycliffe entered a team called Africa Alive, to raise funds for the Tonga Bible Translation Project in Zimbabwe.

On Saturday, 25 June 2016, Wycliffe SA hosted a conference entitled “Leaders Intersect”. Leaders from different spheres of South African business and ministry were invited to intersect with the leadership of Wycliffe SA and the Wycliffe Global Alliance. The theme for the event was “Anticipating a flourishing Africa”.

Have you ever wanted a way to share the good news of the Gospel with friends and neighbours who would not read a Bible or come to church? Try asking, “May I tell you a Bible story?”. At this workshop you will learn how to craft, tell and teach Bible stories that are simple, accurate and memorable, and find easy ways to build them into daily conversations.

The geographic region of Southern Africa includes 10 countries with more than 100 language communities that have no available Scripture in their heart language. Bible translation organisations across the region are working toward a common goal: helping local communities translate God’s Word into their own languages.

Language is the cornerstone of communication and communication enables us to convey information. Giving people access to the Word of God in their own language is the goal of Wycliffe, named after the man who first translated the Bible into English in 1384.

Somewhere in Africa someone is climbing Kilimanjaro to seek greater purpose and perspective...to her surprise a deep and unstoppable love is being stirred up in her heart for lost people groups beyond the mountain who has never had access to Word in their own language...she decides to do something about it…

Uekatara started with pointing to a nearby mountain and explained that he was born in the area in 1955. His oldest brother had an encounter with the Lord as he worked through “catechism” facilitated by the St. John’s mission’s outreach, gave his heart to the Lord and started to evangelize the whole family. His mother could also read in her later years and started to read the Herero bible.

In South Africa more than 600,000 Deaf people use South African Sign Language. Although specific numbers are difficult to identify, by the best accounts there are hundreds of sign languages around the world, used by as many as 70 million people. However, only one sign language has a New Testament, and no Scriptures exist in the vast majority of these languages. In 2013 a team formed to begin work on a Bible translation for this community.

Bible storying taps into the lifeblood of an oral culture, and the stories travel surprisingly fast. Southern Africans living in remote areas, including many San people, have embraced the mobile phone as a perfect method for doing what oral cultures love: sharing stories.

On 21 March 2015, the "Sena" people from Mozambique received the New Testament in their own language! An estimated 1,7mil people speak Sena. Three choirs sang jubalent praises and speakers from all over marvelled at the final product after completion of 20 years of hard work. At long last, the Word fully came to life and their hearts rejoiced as they connected with the words of Jesus in their own language.

Diane Lovell is an Australian serving as a Bible translation consultant-in-training in Southern Africa with The Seed Company, a Wycliffe Global Alliance partner organisation. Diane shares how God provided her a way to continue in her work after having a baby girl while balancing it with the responsibilities of being a new mother.